Organisation helps keep the environment clean by recycling

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a legal requirement in South Africa which aims to reduce waste, promote recycling, and encourage sustainable practices.

Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET/PET) is used to make many new PET products and is one of the few polymers that can be recycled back into the same form again and again.

South Africa’s longest-standing producer responsibility organisation (PRO), Petco, was formed almost 20 years ago. It has achieved a 60% recycling rate for PET, which exceeds the legislated 58% for post-consumer PET.

“Petco had been building a sustainable value chain for post-consumer PET packaging in South Africa for almost two decades and had propelled the nation towards a circular economy for this packaging,” says Cheri Scholtz, CEO at Petco.

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Extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation

South Africa’s mandatory EPR legislation started in 2021 and in 2023 Petco was able to achieve 98% of legislated targets set by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s (DFFE) for these products by volume.

“The EPR regulations require that packaging producers take responsibility for the full life cycle of their post-consumer packaging, so that it does not end up in the environment or landfill.

Collection of post-consumer packaging

Scholtz says to stimulate the collection of this packaging, the organisation also grew the number of active buy-back centres in the value chain from seven to 32.

“The combined results for PET and liquid board packaging (LBP) also indicate that Petco’s collection and recycling efforts last year on behalf of its members:

• Saved 64,100 cubic metres of landfill space
• Provided infrastructure support to buy-back centres that helped sustain 910 employment opportunities and the livelihoods of more than 8 000 waste pickers.
• Saw 77 recycling workshops and three accredited business training courses conducted nationwide, drawing almost 6 000 participants
• Supported 58 municipalities countrywide and two national and nine provincial departments with collection and recycling initiatives.

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The organisation is working with nationally, with corporate partners, various tiers of government, waste pickers and collectors to advance the collection of recyclable packaging. The organisation had supported 100 collection projects countrywide – inclusive of waste pickers, SMMEs and co-operatives to improve the quality and quantity of their collections.

“For us, the EPR targets are not a burden. They present a real opportunity to assist our members in advancing South Africa’s circular economy by strengthening every single link in the value chain – no matter how big or small.”